


Turning the Tables

by Rinkafic



Series: Telpa 'verse [12]
Category: Firefly, Sanctuary (TV), Stargate Atlantis
Genre: F/M, M/M, Stargate Atlantis AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-01
Updated: 2011-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-26 10:04:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/281749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rinkafic/pseuds/Rinkafic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A case of mistaken identity leads to an interesting revelation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Turning the Tables

**Author's Note:**

  * For [clwilson2006](https://archiveofourown.org/users/clwilson2006/gifts).



“This can’t be! You’re dead!”

“I assure you, I am most assuredly not deceased,” Nikola straightened his cravat and glared at the man responsible for the hysterical outburst. This was irritating, he’d come to the pens hoping to find a decent body telpa so he didn’t have to keep paying Helen’s outrageous prices, the woman was getting a bit ridiculous with her ‘specialty wares.’ Tesla just wanted to get laid regularly. He sighed when the dark haired man continued to stare at him, bugged eyed and hyperventilating.

“Dead.”

“No.”

The man shook his head firmly and raised a shaking, accusatory finger. “David, you are dead.”

“I am not dead. And I am not David.”

The man squinted and leaned forward, then stepped back suddenly. “By the goddess! You aren’t David, are you? The resemblance is remarkable!”

“I really don’t have time for this, sir.” He turned and started walking in the other direction; he’d find a telpa in with the house lots if he had to, they might be cheaper, anyway. He thought he found one that might suit, slight statured, fair haired, light eyes, looked a little too thin, but Tesla could fatten him up a bit. The price on the telpa’s collar was three zercs higher than Tesla could realistically afford to pay. He waited impatiently for the keeper to return so he could negotiate the price, perhaps bringing it down a little. After all, the telpa was a myopic, and apparently needed the spectacles on his face in order to see.

A hand fell on his arm and he turned to see the same man from earlier standing behind him. “My apologies for my earlier outburst. Would you, perhaps, be interested in a business proposal?”

Tesla was always interested in making a bit of cash. “What sort of business?”

“You could pass for my deceased brother. It seems there was a box on deposit at a private business, one which I am unable to obtain access to, as the owner refuses to turn it over to anyone but my brother. The woman is being difficult and refuses to budge.”

“Surely the magistrates can settle this matter?”

He huffed out a breath. “This being a private deposit, and there being no actual legal paperwork which I could take to the magistrates to prove my claim, I am at a bit of a loss. Anyone looking at you would think you are David.”

“What’s in it for me?”

“I’ll purchase that telpa for you. And four zercs for your trouble. As well as three body telpa that belonged to my brother that the woman claimed upon his death, if you can get her to turn them over to you. They might be wasted by now, after six months in a brothel.”

It was a good deal, all that to go in and clear out a deposit box? He shrugged elegantly. “I believe we can come to terms, with whom am I dealing, sir?”

“Wrin Phil Par’rish.”

“Call me Nikola.

  
~*~   


Mal dragged the heavy wooden door open at the insistent knock. It was very early in the day for the usual business. He was here staining the woodwork in the front foyer before people needed to come in and out. Wiping his hands on a rag, he looked up into the face of the man on the steps and took a step back in surprise.

“Wrin Par’rish? I thought, we all thought…”

“Yes. Well, an exaggeration. I am here to see Sassa Zoe about my property, the deposit box.”

“Holding the door open all the way, Mal stepped aside. “Come in, please wait here. Be careful, the doorframe is wet. I’ll just go find Sassa Zoe.”

Mal took the steps two at a time and opened Zoe’s door and slipped inside. He crossed the room, crouched down and gently shook her shoulder. “Zoe. Zoe wake up. There’s a dead man in the foyer!”

She blinked at him, wide dark eyes unfocused and sleepy. “What? Who?”

“Wrin Par’rish.”

She sat up slowly and stretched. “What is he up to? What’s he doing down there?”

“He says he’s here for his property, something about a deposit box.”

At that, Zoe’s head snapped up and she looked positively livid. “Oh, really, is that so?” She flung the covers aside and swung from the bed, edging past Mal. “What in the hell is going on?” She grabbed a gown and stripped off her nightclothes, which made his mouth go dry at the sight of all that glorious creamy skin.

“Go up to my old rooms. Knock on the door. Tell Lorne or Laura what you told me.”

Reluctantly, because seeing her like that was still new and exciting, he left the room. Lorne answered his quiet knock. It was early; the residents of the brothel were all still abed, so he was trying to be silent.

“Mal? What’s going on?”

“Wrin David is in the foyer, he says he’s here to collect his property, specifically, his deposit box.”

One eyebrow raised, Lorne leaned back and looked away, then looked at Mal. “That’s impossible.”

Not the answer Mal expected. “I’ll come down.” “How wonderful.” “Are you sure?” “Oh, shit!” – those were all the kinds of things he might have expected to hear. But Lorne was too certain in his response. Something was odd.

Someone spoke inside the room and he heard Lorne repeat what he’d said. He heard a raised voice shout, “What the hell?!?”

Lorne was shoved violently aside and the door was flung open. For the second time that morning, Mal took a step back in shock. “Wrin Par’rish? How? I don’t understand.” Mal ran a hand through his hair and stared as the man pushed him aside and stomped down the stairs. Lorne and Mal quickly followed, saw Zoe reach out and grab the Wrin, drag him into her quarters by the arm and firmly shut the door. A hushed argument ensued from inside the room.

When the door opened, Zoe stepped out, fluffed her curls and closed the door. “Let’s see what this is about, shall we?”

Her door opened a crack and she spun around and pointed a warning finger at the eye peering out. “I will leave a guard!” The door closed with an angry click. Zoe nodded in satisfaction and swept to the staircase in a swirl of skirts.

The man was waiting, leaning on his walking stick. Now that he had seen what must be the ‘real’ Wrin David upstairs, Mal could see the differences. This man was darker, both hair and eyes, seemed taller, more arrogant, and had a scar on his cheek.

“I am Sassa Zoe, how may I help you?”

That seemed to surprise him; he must have been expecting her to react with shock. “Sassa Zoe? Surely you recognize me?”

“I’m sorry, no. You look a bit like my dear departed friend David, but coincidences happen.”

“But, I am David.”

“No, sir, you are not.”

“This is ridiculous. I know who I am, Sassa Zoe!”

She smiled at him; a smile that Mal knew boded ill for the man. “Where then, is my birthmark?”

He smiled and tilted his head. “Left hip.”

Mal suspected that someone had prepared him, fed him answers. But Zoe was clever; she’d trip him up soon. “Where have you been and what is it you came here for, after so many moons, David?”

“I’ve been healing, in hiding. I came to reclaim my property. My dear body telpa, I’ve missed them.”

Biting the tip of one finger, she circled him. “Have you, now?” She pointed to Lorne, standing silently on the staircase, and then at Mal. “Which one did you miss more?”

“Lorne, of course.”

“Of course.” Zoe gestured to Mal. “Lorne, go show your Wrin proper respect.” Mal took a few steps and knelt, kissing the imposter’s hand. “He missed you too.”

He caressed Mal’s hair. “The other telpa, and the deposit box.?”

“There is no deposit box. You know that, David.” Zoe crossed her arms over her bosom.

“Don’t play games, Sassa Zoe. You’ll lose.”

Her smile turned feral. “First of all, if you were David, you’d be calling me Zoe. Secondly, and most telling, if you were David, you’d know that’s not Lorne.” She pointed at Mal, who smirked and stood up.

“I know, I _Jaa_ horribly. I’d be a horrible telpa.” Mal crossed his arms and blocked the doorway.

The real Lorne was glaring daggers. “Who put you up to this?”

Zoe silenced him, putting up a hand. “It had to be Phil. So, how far in Phil’s pocket are you, Imposter?”

The man shrugged his shoulders and looked skyward for a moment. “I knew this whole thing sounded too easy and was too good to be true. Look, I don’t know if Phil even knows what’s in the box.”

“Of course he doesn’t, there is no deposit box,” a voice came from the top of the stairs and the imposter blanched and took a step back, banging into Mal.

Zoe rolled her eyes and stepped aside to let David pass. He strode forward and glared into the face of the imposter. “Who the hell are you? Answer me; I have ways of beating it out of you that will make you wish you were dead.”

Helpfully, Mal grabbed the man’s upper arms and restrained him.

“Nikola Tesla.”

“Are you related to Sharine Tesla?”

After glaring at David for a few moments, he snapped, “She was my mother.”

David clapped his hands. “How delightful. Well, that answers that question. Now, how best to utilize you, Nikola? Phil can’t be allowed to get a way with this. No, no, no!”

“David?” Zoe asked, tugging on his sleeve.

He was pacing, rubbing his chin, deep in thought. “Huh?”

Zoe tossed her head at Tesla, question in her eyes.

“Oh, Sharine was my father’s mistress. He’s obviously my brother,” David tossed the statement off casually as he resumed his pacing.

Now sitting on the stairs, chin in hand, watching the drama unfold, Lorne let out a laugh. “Too bad he’s not the elder brother. Wouldn’t that really piss off Phil?”

David spun towards his telpa. “Sometimes, I really don’t regret buying you.” To mal’s great surprise, after a moment of hesitation, Wrin David crossed to the stairs, clasped Lorne’s face between his hands and kissed him full on the mouth. It was not something Mal was used to seeing, kissing of telpa, nor was the obvious affectionate caress of Lorne’s cheek.

Wrin David looked at Tesla and demanded. “How old are you?”

“Thirty two.”

“Phil is thirty.” David chuckled. “So, would you like to significantly improve your social standing, Nikola?” David waved two fingers at Mal, indicating he should let Nikola go.

Straightening his clothing, and casting a slight glare at Mal, which he ignored, Tesla looked wary. “How so?”

“Quite obviously, I am not dead. Someone tried to murder me, but failed. Since it benefits me to do so, I am staying dead until I have figured out who is behind the plot.”

“I guessed as much,” remarked Tesla.

“That obvious, eh? Never mind. Did no one ever tell you that you could claim birth rites? Your mother was a free woman, not a telpa, you have rights to claim on the House, man!”

Tesla looked askance at him. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because unlike Phil, I’m not selfish enough to do anything for wealth, House Par’rish provides more than enough income for six brothers to share. You’re obviously my brother, and right now, I like you a hell of a lot more than I ever liked Phil. He’s a cruel and sadistic bastard. And, your mother was always nice to me. Is she still alive, by he way?”

“She died a few years ago. I never knew Oscar Par’rish was my father, until you said so. So, you _want_ me to make a claim on House Par’rish?”

“Oh yeah, sue them. Get yourself instated as the new Wrin!” David clapped his hands and smiled. “What fun! How angry Phil will be. Oh, Father too, he was grooming Phil all along and now to have him set aside to be just the Sran again!”

Tesla tipped his head and stared. “And when you come back?”

“Well, then you become the Sran and Phil becomes nothing but a son of the house, doesn’t he?” David licked his lips with delight at the thought.

“I’d be set for life?”

“You’d have a modest income. I’d expect you to contribute, I’m sure you have some kind of talents.”

Tesla nodded. “A few. Having a secure roof over my head and regular meals is a very tempting proposition.”

“More than Phil offered?”

“Much.”

“So, are you in, do you want to help bring Phil low?”

Tesla looked around and obviously considered it. Mal knew what Wrin David was offering the man was huge. It was wealth and security. It was also the possibility of family.

“I may be making a mistake, but I like your terms better than Phil’s. I’m in, brother.” He stuck his hand out and David took it, shaking it as he smiled warmly.


End file.
